On My Way To India

Here's my pre-trip prayer letter. I'll probably post all of them up here and they'll be more summarizing, once a month sorts of things. I'll try to put up a lot more detailed day to day stuff here on my blog too, so it'll be worth checking back every once in a while. Here's the letter:

Hello Everyone,

Today is the big day, the day I depart to spend four months overseas working with the poorest of the poor in the world. For those of you that aren't already aware, I'm going with a Christian missions organization called Word Made Flesh (www.wordmadeflesh.org). I will be on a team of six, being led by one of their full time missionaries.

The majority of our four months will be spent in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. However there was a recent change of plans and our team will spend April in Sri Lanka working with Habitat for Humanity rebuilding from the destruction of the tsunami. While in Kolkata, our team will be working in the Missionaries of Charity homes. Depending on which home(s) I end up serving in, I could be working with street kids, helping those recovering from drug addictions, serving at a home for the dying, or helping at any of several other homes. No matter where I end up, I know that this will be both a very challenging and very formative time for me. I expect that I will probably experience some of the lowest emotional lows of my life, as well as some of the highest emotional highs of my life.

Please consider praying for me regularly. I have seen God work wonders through prayer, and will be glad for all the prayer support I can get. The following is a short (and incomplete) list of things I would appreciate prayer for: Please be praying for personal growth, both for me and for my team. Pray that I would be emotionally present so I can actually come to grips with the pain around me. Pray that my heart would break for the poor and oppressed of the world. Pray that God would help me discern if this is a longer term calling for my life. I want to stay open to that option so God can direct me. Pray for strength of relationship within our team. We will meet each other for the first time at LAX before flying overseas together. We need to learn to support each other very quickly. Pray that as issues of conflict arise, God will give us a humble love for each other so that we can reconcile with each other. Please pray for us as we begin interacting within a very foreign culture. There are many things we are used to that will be cultural taboos while we are overseas. There are also many differences that we can learn a great deal from if we are open to them. There is also the huge barrier of language. The people we will be interacting with will primarily speak Bengali. Although we will receive language lessons while we are there, language will be a huge barrier for the duration of the trip. Please pray that we will be quick to pick up Bengali and that we will be able to give and receive love beyond words.

I would love receiving mail of any form while I am overseas. I will be checking my email (Philip_Vegdahl@alumni.hmc.edu) semi-regularly while in Kolkata. You can also send old fashioned mail to me at the following address:

Philip Vegdahl
c/o Missionaries of Charity Volunteers
54 AJC Bose Road
Calcutta, India 700-016

Thank you again so much for your loving support,
In Christ's love,
Philip